CHESNEE, SC - The Chesnee Eagles downed the Liberty Red Devils 5-1 to claim the Region I-AA crown, which is the third consecutive year Chesnee has claimed a region championship as the previous two was in Region II-AA. It also marks the fourth region title for softball in school history.
"It's exciting to win another championship," said Chesnee head softball coach Tripp Fogle. "This has taken a lot of effort from a lot of people to reach this point. It was extra special to win it with the little league kids here tonight." In a packed stadium filled with youth softball players from the Chesnee community, the Eagles took the field during pregame festivities with little leaguers representing the community. "It's a testament to these girls playing now that the interest is so high at the younger levels," said Fogle. Chesnee senior pitcher Maddie Handy said it was cool seeing the younger kids looking up to them like she once did the players before her. "It feels great to know all those girls look up to me like I did to the high school players when I was their age." said Handy. After both pitchers tossed a pair of scoreless frames to open the game, the Eagles struck for four runs in the bottom of the third inning. Olivia Tolleson led off the bottom of the third inning with a walk before Claire Owens advanced her to third with a single. Tolleson eventually scored on a double steal and the final three runs of the inning came from consecutive two out RBI singles from Jada Sellars, Maddie Handy, and Emily Pruett. Chesnee added their final run in the fifth inning as Natalie Morris hit the first of her two singles and later scored on Jada Sellars RBI sacrifice groundout. "It feels great to be able to help my team out tonight," said Morris. "Last night I didn't have my best night at the plate. Today, I came out with the mindset that I had to help my team out." The Red Devils made a late rally attempt with three singles by Mackenzie Porter, Holi Griffin, and Scarlett Pittman in the top of the seventh inning. Pittman's single was a RBI single to cut the Eagles lead to 5-1 but that was as close as Liberty would get. Chesnee got a stellar performance in the pitching circle from Maddie Handy as she spun a complete game to earn the win while surrendering one run and scattering five hits while striking out eight. Handy has had to break in a new catcher in middle schooler Ansley Blanton over the last few games, and both couldn't be more pleased with the transition. "I never thought I would be here honestly," said Blanton. "It's thanks to a lot of people helping me get to this moment." "She has been really great," said Handy. "She has really stepped up for us, because we lost our starting catcher to injury. I think she is doing a great job behind the plate." The Chesnee defense was strong behind her all night as the play of the night came in the top of the sixth inning as Skylar Barrett made a beautiful diving catch to rob the Liberty leadoff batter of a sure base hit while Harley Grady also made a great catch to end the sixth inning. "It feels great to know I have them behind me," said Handy. "They give me a lot of confidence. This is our fourth game this week, so I wasn't spinning the ball like I should and they helped me out tonight." The championship is the third consecutive for the Eagles, but the offensive strategy has changed during the run. The 2021 championship team used the home run to score a lot of runs, but this team uses speed and contact to have success. The Eagles will look to cap off region play with a win on Monday as they host Landrum at 7:30 PM. Comments are closed.
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